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“Yes.”
Beau threw her hands up. “You are so going to screw this up, and I’m going to have to fix it.” She spun back toward the kitchen.
“I want you to stay.” I pried her fingers from her hip and took them in mine.
Some of the fire and brimstone dimmed. She opened her mouth to speak, then closed it. After she searched my face for a moment, she whispered, “Why?”
“Because I want to turn your ‘might fall’ into a definitely.”
Chapter Fifteen
Lincoln
“Not sorry for the unannounced visit.”
Zegas barged through the front door I held open as if it were his home.
“By all means, come in.”
I ushered him to the living room. My study had been taken over by Eric and the dogs. Lexie and Beau were hanging out with them. I had been too until Zegas called.
He glanced around the space. “Any sensitive ears nearby?”
Laughter came from down the hall, and I was jealous I’d been deprived of being part of it.
“No.”
Zegas dropped his briefcase on the floor and got comfortable in a chair. “We’ve got a lot to cover.” He grabbed a file from the leather case. “Got anything to drink? Preferably whiskey.”
Entertaining guests in my home was new territory for me. I filled a crystal tumbler and offered it to him.
“You’re gonna need one too.”
Dread filled me as I sat on the sofa. I hoped he was wrong because I wasn’t drinking tonight. Not when I needed to keep my wits about me.
He took a long swallow and opened the file. “Let’s start with the easiest topic. Which by the way, isn’t easy.”
I gripped the armrest. “Wherever you prefer to begin.”
“Donnie Logan was recently released after serving nineteen years in prison for trafficking and possession of”—he glanced at the papers in front of him—“pretty much you name the drug, he had it. Before that he’d been in and out of jail since the 1970s.”
That was the environment Lexie and Eric had grown up in? My father was an asshole, but he hadn’t put us at risk like that. What kind of man did that to his children?
“Hang on to your seat because it gets better. Mama . . . what’s her name?” He scanned the paper, running his index finger down the page. “Ah yes, Marlene. She’s another upstanding citizen nominated for mother of the year. Trafficking, possession, theft, prostitution . . . should I go on?”
I’d heard enough. How had Lexie become the beautiful person she was under the influence of those people? She was . . . incredible.
“No.”
“The two of them seemed to coordinate their stints in jail. One in, one out. Marlene is still locked up for the boatload of cocaine they brought in. But if he’s out, she may not be far behind.”
Should Lexie hear this? It was her personal life we were discussing, though she knew the details more intimately than any file Zegas had. She’d been through enough. No need to make her relive it, especially after the traumatic few days she’d had.
“It was supposed to be a life sentence for both of them.”
I was grateful he kept speaking because the only words I wanted to say were not productive and likely criminal.
“And it’s no wonder Lexie’s parents aren’t happy with her. She’s the one who led the feds to the bust that took them out.”
